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Airlines: Delta aims to outsmart cheaters

This past weekend, Delta began putting red tags on approved carry-on luggage for international flights. It's the first airline to try to tamp down on cheaters—(You know who you are!)—who ignore an airline's carry-on luggage limits.

Items that are found by flight attendants and that are not red-tagged will be removed for gate check. No fines are being put in place, though, for breaking the rules.

For its overseas flights, Delta allows each passenger to bring one bag whose length, width, and height adds up to less than 45 inches and whose maximum weight is 40 pounds. It also allows each passenger to carry an additional, smaller item, such as a purse or laptop bag.

Many travelers flout the rules, carrying aboard additional items that clog up overhead compartments. These rule-breakers cause problems for other travelers. When other, rule-abiding passengers board an airplane at the end of the line, they often find there is not enough room for their items in storage. Their carry-on bag must then be checked at the gate. If this has ever happened to you, and you have medicine or other important items in your "legal" carry-on bag, the experience of having your bag gate-checked can be infuriating.